Flight conveyer with flanged clamping disks



Feb. 2, 1954 H. W. HAPMAN FLIGHT CONVEYER WITH FLANGED} cLAMPiNG DISKSOriginal Filed Dec. 13, 1944 Bummer 50/36/2020"? d'mzwwm (IttomegsPatented Feb. 2, 1954 FLIGHT CVONVEYER WITH FLANGED CLAMPING DISKS HenryW. Hapman, Hickory Corners, Mich., assignor of forty per cent to HannahJane Hapman, Hickory Corners, Mich.

Application October 28, 1948, Serial No. 57,048; which is a division ofapplication Serial No. 567,961, December 13, 1944. Divided and. thisapplication September 10, 1951, Serial No.

4 Claims. (Cl. 1981-176) This invention relates to improvements inconveyor structures and, in particular, to a flexible conveyor elementwith conveyor flights thereon.

One object of this invention is to provide a flight conveyor having aflexible conveyor element with spaced flights thereon which are spacedby resilient tubular sleeve members extending between adjacent flightsto protect the flexible conveyor element and increase the tensilestrength thereof.

Another object is to provide a flight conveyor having a flexibleconveyor element with spaced flights thereon, preferably of rubber-likematerial, and having a clamping plate on one or both sides thereof, withthe flight projecting a slight distance beyond the edge thereof so as tolend suflicient rigidity to the flight and yet prevent excessive wear onthe conveyor conduit in which the conveyor is employed.

Another object is to provide a flight conveyor of the above-mentionedtype in which the clamping plates have flanges extending along theflexible conveyor element.

Another object is to provide a flight conveyor of the above-mentionedtype in which the resilient tubular sleeve members are adhesivelysecured to the flexible conveyor element as well as to the conveyorflights to assist in increasing the tensile strength of the flexibleconveyor element and facilitate the handling of relatively 1) heavyloads.

This is a division of my co-pending application Serial No. 57,048, filedOctober 28, 1948, for Flight Conveyor Structure, which was issued onFebruary 19, 1952, as U. S. Patent No. 2,586,538, and

which was itself co-pending with and a division of application SerialNo. 567,961, filed December 13, 1944, for Conveyor Element Structure,the latter having been issued on June 5, 1951, as U. S. Patent No.2,555,338.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentduring the course of the following description of the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a flight conveyor according to one formof the invention, partly in longitudinal section; and

Figure 2 is a cross-section along the line 22 in Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings in detail, Figures 1 and 2 show one form offlight conveyor structure according to the invention wherein there isprovided a single flexible conveyor-propelling element in the form of awire cable 45 adapted to have assembled thereon a series of conveyorflight clamping plates 46 having centrally-disposed annular flanges 48surrounding suitable apertures in said conveyor flight plates 46 so asto be frictionally retained on the flexible wire cable 45. Also disposedon the flexible wire cable 45 is a series of natural or synthetic rubberdisc flight elements 49 which are sandwiched between the conveyor flightplates 46 so that the peripheral portion thereof projects a slightdistance beyond Elsie peripheral edge of the conveyor flight plateTubular rubber Spacing sleeves 50 are assembled on the wire cable 45 anddisposed between adjacent conveyor flight plates 45, as shown in Figure1, so that the ends of said tubular rubber sleeves or spacing elements50 will overlie the annular flanges 48 of the conveyor flight plates 45so that the tubular rubber sleeves may be adhesively secured to theflanges 48 and conveyor flight plates 46 by a rubber cement composition,such as the cement described in the United States Patents Nos,1,605,180, 1,617,588 and 1,744,880. The rubber spacing sleeves 50 areadhesively secured to the flexible wire cable 45 as well as the naturalor synthetic rubber flight elements 49.

When the flight elements and tubular spacing sleeves 50 have thus beenassembled on the wire cable 45, the ends thereof may be provided withtubular coupling members 5| and 52 so that the ends of said wire cables45 may be welded or otherwise secured in place therein as shown clearlyin Figure 1. An annular flange 53 is formed on the tubular couplingmember 5| for retaining a coupling sleeve 54 thereon having internalscrew threads 55 for receiving external screw threads 56 formed on theenlarged head portion of the tubular coupling member 52. By simplythreading the coupling sleeve 54 on the threads 56 of the tubularcoupling sleeve 52, the ends of the cable 45 may be securely fastenedtogether so that the endless flexible conveyor element may be mounted ina conveyor conduit or passageway, as at 51 and propelled therein bymeans of a suitable drive sprocket 58. As shown in Figure 2, the drivesprocket 58 is provided with a series of circumferentially-spaced forkedpor tions 59 for receiving the wire cable 45 and tubular spacing sleeves50 so that the forked portion 59 may drivingly engage one of theconveyor flight plates 46.

What I claim is:

1. A flight conveyor comprising a flexible conveyor element, a series ofconveyor flight supporting plates spacedly mounted on said conveyorelement, plate-shaped flights secured to said 3 supporting plates, andsleeve members of rubberlike material extending between said flightsupporting plates. said flight supporting plates having axiallyextending portions disposed adjacent said flexible conveyor element, theends of said sleeve members extending over said axiallyextending plateportions.

2. A flight conveyor comprising a flexible conveyor element, a series ofconveyor flight supporting plates spacedly mounted on said conveyorelement, flexible flights of rubber-like material secured tosaidsupporting plates, and sleeve members of rubber-like materialextending between said flight supporting plates, said flight supportingplates having axially extending portions disposed adjacent said flexibleconveyor element, the ends of said sleeve members'extending over saidaxially-extending plate portions.

3. A flight conveyor comprising a flexible conveyor element, a series ofconveyor flight supporting plates spacedly mounted on said conveyorelement, and flexible flights of rubber-like material secured to saidsupporting plates, said flight 4 supporting plates havingaxially-extending annular flanges encircling the flexible conveyorelement, the ends of said sleeve members extending over said flanges.

4. A flight conveyor comprising a flexible conveyor element, a series ofpairs of conveyor flight supporting plates spacedly mounted on saidconveyor element, flexible flights of rubber-like material securedbetween adjacent pairs of said supporting plates, and sleeve members ofrubberlike material extending between said flight supporting plates,said flight supporting plates having axially-extending portions disposedadjacent said flexible conveyor element, the ends of said sleeve membersextending over said axially-extending plate portions.

HENRY W. HAPMAN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number

